Volkswagen Transmission Shanghai Co. Ltd. awarded the Timken Company the 2006 Excellent Supplier Award for their supply of needle roller bearings to Volkswagen Transmission. Timken is proud to receive that as there were only two suppliers to win the award.

Timken’s Wuxi plant in China began to work with Volkswagen in 2003 and its business with Shanghai has grown fast with their annual sales doubling between 2005 and 2006. â€œFrom the beginning, Timken has been dedicated to serving Volkswagen globally, including in growth markets like China,” said Kevin Raketich, general manager of Timken’s Asian automotive business. “Timken engineering, sales and manufacturing teams are positioned throughout the world to meet the needs of our global customers wherever they operate,” Raketich added.

The Timken Company also supplies the German-based Volkswagen AG with their products such as needle and tapered bearings for transmissions and needle bearings for finger followers, which are engine valve train components, aside from its business with Volkswagen Transmission.

Volkswagen Transmission asked for assistance in the reduction of bearing noises which were caused by another supplier’s products, and it was the engineers from the Timken Company who helped formulate a solution. Timken serves their customer’s local operations with much attention to service and this was what made Volkswagen system performance improve. Also, as part of their commitment to helping Volkswagen, they held annual evaluations in their Wuxi plant to hear the suggestion made by Volkswagen. The suggestions were mostly about service improvements and products. The plant also takes part in the customer quality improvement programs.

The Timken Company first had its advanced technology and innovation in China in the year 1992. They established their Asia Pacific headquarters in Shanghai and also developed a network of sales offices for the majority of the China region for them to serve local and international customers. Their offices could be found in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenyang, Wuxi, Chengdu, Hong Kong, and Taipei.

They also invested in large scale manufacturing sites in Yantai, Chengdu and three other sites in Wuxi. They were also able to establish logistics and industrial service centers for them to meet the needs of Chinese customers. Asides from these ventures they made, they also opened a specialist engineering training facility for the owners and engineers in China. Its goal was also to share technology and knowledge with their Chinese customers.

Volkswagen Transmission in Shanghai is a joint project between Volkswagen AG and two other leading China car manufacturers â€“ Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation and First Auto Works. This venture manufactures the transmission for a number of well-known models of Volkswagen in China, including Bora, Golf, Polo, and Octavia.